Early season matches often give teams the opportunity to assess what they have. For some they may demonstrate unexpected areas of strength, while for others, they might illustrate areas that still need improvement.

Such was the case for Lehighton head coach Danny Williams and first year Palmerton mentor Justin Petersen during Monday's non-league contest between nearby rivals.Though the Indians earned a convincing 56-18 victory, which was aided by five Bomber forfeits, Williams was cognizant that his team needed to be prepared when it did take the mat."You just go out and you try to do the best you can in each of the matches you wrestle head-to-head," he said. "We still got a couple of things, early in the season, that we have to work on yet. And this was a good opportunity just for us to kind of see some of the stuff we can go and attack now in practice."One double forfeit at 113 pounds notwithstanding, Lehighton was dominant in the eight bouts that were contested, winning five, including three by fall and one by way of technical fall.The most impressive of the victories may have been Alexander Smith's triumph over Jericho Burger at 285 pounds.Trailing 6-2 after the first period, the Lehighton junior knew he needed to do something quickly to salvage the match."I started off on the bottom so I knew I really needed a reversal to get back up there," Smith of starting the second period. "I was trailing by four points and I knew I needed to make a move."Smith did just that, gaining an escape to put him in position to go on the offensive."Once he had me down in a front headlock, I was able to wrap my arm around his leg," he said. "I got my hand free and I got a pretty good lock in there and I just knew I had to drive (to roll him over)."Smith completed the move just before the end of the second period, slapping Burger on his back to secure the pin at 3:58.For Williams, the victory was the embodiment of what he wants from his team."That's why we always preach to not stop fighting; you never stop fighting," he said. "It's tough, at heavyweight, with a guy that big on top of you. But he was able to fight that. Then before the period ends, he's able to get a pin. It was fantastic. That's why you don't give up."If you're in a match where every point counts, that's huge because that's a 12-point swing."The many forfeits throughout the Palmerton lineup were caused by numerous injuries, with the most notable to Zachary Graver (182) and Zack Christman (170).Despite surrendering 30 points in forfeited bouts, Petersen, much like Williams, wanted to make sure his squad was ready for the matches that took place."As a team, we can't really look at the forfeits because that's not something we can control," he said. "I told them going in that the only thing they can control is when they have an opponent on the mat, and we'll see how we do."Palmerton's most impressive victory may have come from John Iles at 195 pounds.Trailing Kyle Strohl 3-1 after the second period, Iles was able execute a reversal before bringing Strohl down, ultimately pinning the Lehighton freshman at 5:12."I think John (Iles) won that match with conditioning," said Petersen. "He was constantly pushing him (Strohl) and he finally broke, and he was able to take advantage of it."And that's what I tell them, is that we always want to win the third period. I think at that point of the match it was obvious both wrestlers were tired. But the wrestler that's better conditioned and has more heart is always going to win the third period and I think that showed in John's match."´Lehighton 56, Palmerton 18106 - Nate Kemmerer (L) won by forfeit.113 - Double forfeit.120 - Antonio Lorenzo (L) won by forfeit.126 - Zach Kemmerer (L) won by forfeit.132 - Cody Scherer (L) dec. Daniel Russo, 8-2138 - Tegan Durishin (L) tech. fall Brandon Traugher, 16-1 (2:10).*145 - Andrew Ringler (P) pinned Dylan Schock in 1:00.152 - Matt Wolfe (P) pinned Dustin Koons in 3:24.160 - Tyler Cann (L) pinned Michael Christensen in :14.170 - Dominik Mystkowski (L) won by forfeit.182 - Connor Frey (L) pinned Jared Mooney in 1:55.195 - John Iles (P) pinned Kyle Strohl in 5:12.220 - Wyatt Clements (L) won by forfeit.285 - Alex Smith (L) pinned Jericho Burger in 3:58.* - Match started at 145 pounds.